Boxee TV Leaked — Cable Companies Should Be Concerned

Boxee TV is gunning for cable TV. Photo: The Verge

As the price of cable and satellite TV rises, more and more fans of the boob tube are looking for ways to cut the cord. But the lack of a single device that easily brings all aspects of media together remains the largest hurdle.

The still-in-beta Boxee TV that was leaked to The Verge on Tuesday could be the device that pushes potential cord-cutters over the edge. The set-top box has all the ingredients needed to make it the ultimate cord-cutting device. The Boxee operating system, originally based on the open source XBMC, contains a plethora of web apps, including Netflix, Vudu and Vimeo. This new device also supports over-the-air HD channels via a TV tuner and has a DVR feature. You can record all your favorite TV Shows, as long as they’re available for free over the air.

The combination of these features would give the Boxee TV a distinct advantage over the Roku and Apple TV. Neither support recording live TV for playback. While TiVo is the leader of the DVR realm, it requires a subscription to use its scheduling service.

Before you get too excited, the Verge article says the Boxee TV currently crashes several times a day. Clearly, the device is still in the early stages. Plus, TiVo’s DVR service is still a fan favorite and hard to beat in terms of ease of use. Boxee would need to step up its UI game to compete.

No word on when this cord-cutting dream machine might be available to the public. Calls to Boxee were not returned as of press time.